


Sunlit Crowns

by muffinsandtea



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Injury, P5 Girls Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-23 17:33:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30059049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muffinsandtea/pseuds/muffinsandtea
Summary: The noble Queen Haru gets out of the palace at night and meets a quite interesting person.Can two Queens find a good middle ground and understand each other, when their circumstances seem so different?
Relationships: Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru
Kudos: 3





	Sunlit Crowns

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!  
> I wrote this fic after getting inspired by drawing a piece for 5th Day of P5 Girls Week lol  
> Here's the drawing:  
> https://twitter.com/lenaeki/status/1372835238187986945?s=19
> 
> It's really just me being soft over queen Haru qq  
> Enjoy!!

Haru sits on her throne, a crown sitting heavy on her head. The day full of responsibilities awaits, and usually tired but hardworking queen is now ready to take it on with full energy.

She acts calm and collected, but can't help a slight smirk that threatens to show up on her colored lips.

Her advisor seems to notice her demeanor and looks at her for a second before asking "Is it a wound on your cheek, My Queen?" she smiles a little and brings a hand to her face and feel the now dried injury beneath her fingers.

"My apologies, I must've scraped against something in the morning. The sleepy haze and such, they do that to you." she laughs, effectively covering up her embarrassment behind referring to the advisor's previous sleepy doings.

"I suppose it does." thankfully, manipulating the conversation seems to work, since he looks nothing short of convinced "In that case, let me bring you something to clean up." he bows and goes out of the throne room.

Haru thought she wiped the evidence of the previous night well. It wasn't like her to let herself get so easily caught.

But then again, a lot of what she's just done wasn't necessarily _like her_.

__________

She got out of the palace on occasion, especially on nights like these – during town festivals. Wearing peasant garment felt probably way too natural for her at this point. Sometimes she wondered how many people would cry heresy if they knew about their queen's habits.

It's not like her duties are that extremely taxing, really. She doesn't feel trapped or forced, she sincerely likes the role she was given after her father's death.

It allowed her to change what seemed to be wrong with the country.

And a lot failure laid in mistreated peasantry, hence why she admired observing the townsfolk, and especially what they frequent doing on so-called "special nights".

And yet, she didn't really ever interact with them. She knew what being discovered entailed and didn't want to risk it by being too careless. She usually tended to hide in the shadows and obstruct her unique appearance with a hood.

What she didn't expect was there was something–or someone–else, more experienced hiding out of sight on this particular night.

They didn't even want to get close to one another, each of them minding their own business. But like whether luck or fate would have it, they bumped into each other.

Or rather, a brunette girl jumped down from the roof, coincidentally landing right on top of the ruler.

She had the decency to apologize – and against herself, Haru had to admit that her voice was really nice to listen to.

The queen didn't have much time to analyze the girl's appearance, especially since most of her face stayed hidden behing a black shawl, but also because she quickly scattered away, seemingly heading straight for the market.

Haru couldn't help watching the other, as she fluidly moved around the festival's attractions.

She didn't really seem suspicious, but there was just... something about her. And it made the queen's eyes gravitate right towards her.

The brunette stopped at one of the stands and after a moment seemed to get into a heated conversation with the merchant.

Haru didn't necessarily like what she did next. Or rather, didn't exactly understand where it came from.

She's not that careless, she doesn't usually let herself be seen. Therefore, one time shouldn't hurt, right?

He legs lead her straight in the direction of the girl, eyes pointed at her. She's confident.

"-won't sell it to a girly, bring your man and we'll talk." she hears the guy spit with anger.

"Since when is medicine only for men to handle? I need it to help someone. Right. Now." the brunette sounded demanding. If she wasn't in such a losing position, she could even be considered intimidating.

"I've got a policy here. Bring a man or we're do-”

"Excuse me" Haru surprised herself with how strong her voice came out, while interjecting. She was almost sure she had to bring some attention to herself, but the pure adrenaline in her vains didn't let her succumb "Isn't our Majesty a woman as well? What gives you the right to degrade this maiden right here like this?"

She only saw the anger on man's face grow deeper and deeper, while she was getting dragged away by the hand and lead to the back alley yet again.

"What are you thinking!?" the girl let Haru's hand go and looked straight at her with confusion in her eyes "You should know not to start a fight with this asshole!"

"I-" any charisma and courage seemed to flee Haru's body at once, her voice sounding small now, barely a whisper. She messed up. "I didn't know..."

"Huh? How could you not... Whatever, let's just go away from here before he thinks of getting some 'help'." she said, motioning her head towards the alleway and started to move not long after. Haru quickly held out a hand though, grasping the other just as she did just moments ago, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

"But wait! What about your medicine?"

She saw a slight smirk on brunette's face, when she took out something from her waist bag. It was... a vile of liquid, same as the ones on the stand.

Huh.

"Let's go."

"Why do you need it?" Haru asks after some time of walking beside the girl "The medicine, I mean."

"A friend. He's badly injured."

"Are we going to see him now?"

"What? No. There's a rule: no outsiders."

"Then..." she hesitates for a moment "then where are you taking me?"

The girl sighs "Not far, just enough for the guy's goons not to find you. I'll lend you a horse and come back for it tomorrow. You can ride, right?"

"I..." well, that's problematic "I can, but taking a horse with me is an entirely different issue. It will not be possible."

"What do you wanna do, then? Walk all the way back? Just tie him down to a tree nearby your house, it's not like you live in a palace."

"Well... of course not." Haru can't help but laugh nervously "I'm afraid I could get lost, I'm not really familiar with the outskirts." it's so hard to deny that she just wanted to get to know the brunette a little more, so she chose to accept it instead "Wouldn't it be possible for you to take me back? Please?"

The girl sighed again, but she didn't seem as annoyed this time. She got quiet for a while, only their steps making any noise. Just as Haru started to lose hope, she heard a quiet voice coming from her left.

"Fine."

There was a rule. No outsiders.

And since the brunette had to come back to her friends, Haru was forced to tie cloth over her face when she was lead around their supposed 'base'. It wasn't that bad, the girl made sure to tie it in the way so it wouldn't hurt and despite everything telling her not to, Haru just... felt like she could trust her. And that didn't happen with that many people.

She heard a lot of voices all around her. They seemed to be using nicknames to refer to each other. The one leading her around went by 'Queen', of all things. How interesting.

She was also able to deduce a boy going by the name of 'Joker' was the one who got injured. She heard what she assumed to be his pained scream when the medicine got administered on the wounds. 

He really was in pain...  
The thought of it getting even worse if he received no medication at all filled Haru with horror, hidden well behind the cloth placed on her face.

She sat there, blindfolded for a little while a girl called Panther graced her with a talk about clothes and how she didn't get a chance to try the festival foods this time. Apparently she wasn't a good choice for that kind of mission because of her unique looks. Something Haru could definitely familiarize with.

"It's hard to rob someone, when everyone's paying attention you" the girl laughed at one point, during their conversation.

She also seemed to have an interest in seeing Haru's hair and "floofing it", since as she said "she knew it had to be pretty", but the queen retained special attention to keep it hidden well and politely refused, much to Panther's dismay.

They honestly sounded like a nice bunch. Outlaws or not, Haru wanted the best for them as well. She made sure to know more about them when she's back at home.

Going away from base, the two talked. Queen, now less concerned about her friend's safety was more open to a coverstation. And it felt... so nice. Like they knew each other for way longer than just a few hours. And it didn't seem like a one-sided sentiment, either.

Maybe it was just Haru's projection though.

They soon reached out far enough of the base and were sitting on a hill and Haru was let to take the blidfold off at last.

"Is there a good place to see the moon from here?" she asked, since most of her view was obstructed by bushes.

Brunette seemed to find the question pretty endearing and took Haru's hand again to lead her through and...

Wow.

Looking at it from inside the palace walls really didn't feel the same, huh.

She was absolutely mesmerized, until she heard a quiet "What...?" coming from next to her, a touch on her hand disappearing momentarily, which Haru's mind decided to highlight for some reason.

Her gaze quickly moved from the sky to the girl, only to notice Queen's terrified expression, eyes aiming straight at Haru's face.

What is... Oh.

Her auburn hair, known widely as the 'Majesty's Unique Feature', so well-hidden before, was now in full view. Her hood must have slipped while trying to go through the bushes and she didn't notice it at all.

"Queen Haru, I-" the girl seemed to be at a loss of words, quickly droping on one knee, her head dropped down "I had no idea, Your Highness."

"No, please, Queen-"

"Why would you call me that...?" her voice was quiet, but she sounded angry. Whether it was at Haru or herself, the other wasn't sure yet. "I beg you... My name's Makoto..."

It surprised Haru. Telling her name right after learning her royal ties was risky. It would allow the queen to simply judge and punish her if she so desired, making the entire blindfolded trip somewhat useless.

Was that a sign of trust... or fear?

"Please," she started, holding brunette's arm, warming her up to the touch she was now scared to receive. She forced the other to look her in the eye and smiled "We're both queens, aren't we?"

When the other didn't give any signs of calming down, she continued, while sitting them both down on the grass, still touching other's shoulders with her hands "I rule over the country. And you help leading your comrades. Right?" she sounded so desperately hopeful "Please, please, calm down?"

"...Are you going to arrest me? Or... us?"

"I um... Excuse me? Of course not. Why would I?"

"I'm a thief. You saw me yourself."

"You stole from an imbecile who doesn't know his place. If anything it's him who deserved the punishment." she didn't expect that sudden outburst and calmed her nerves right after, coughing slightly into her palm "And you did it for a good cause..."

"I... suppose so..." Queen's head was hanging low again. She clearly wasn't convinced.

Haru moved away a little, looking at the ground, where the other's gaze was directed.

"Queen," she started strongly, forcing the other to pay attention to her yet again. "Do you know that flowers sleep at night?" she pointed at a little white flower next to Makoto's leg. "They look like they're hiding away, don't they? Like they're scared of the cold and nightly horrors." it was purely her own desire to touch the other again, but she took brunette's hand in her own. "But in actuality they grow at night."

Haru moved her other, unoccupied hand to untie the girl's shawl and then moved it to lift up her head, so she looked her in the eyes. She didn't take away the hand though, rather letting it rest on brunette's cheek.

"They develop and grow so much that it forces them to close." Haru's thumb was going in circles on Makoto's cheek now and neither of them seemed to want the contact to cease "I can't learn much in the palace, so I go out. I experience so much every time, but need to hide."

"But the sunlight lets you open up." she speaks quietly, her whisper almost indistinguishable in the night wind. "You show your full glory, when you bathe in it."

"A queen's supposed to be the sun itself, guiding and enlightening others around her." Haru's head moved on its own ending up resting her forehead against the other's dark bangs.

Only now was she able to see how beautiful Makoto's eyes were. A blood-red hue that adored them should strike fear and show domination, and yet they were now aimed straight at her with such sincerity and devotion, they could crash a royal court. And they practically gleamed in the moonlight.

"What if it was possible to find this encouraging light, even when the world engulfs itself in pure darkness? What if we could grow _and_ shine at the same time?"

It was clear that both of them had the same exact thought the moment their mouths connected in a sweet, soft kiss.

Despite their tightly shut eyes and the darkness threatening to devour the entire world, they shone brightly in each others arms, both loving the other's glowing presence. The specific joyous feeling lingering there long after their lips parted.

"Would you like to be my Queen?"

__________

The advisor soon comes back with a cloth and silently asks for permission to wipe off her bloodstain.

"Are you sure you're alright, Your Highness?"

"Yes, quite" she answers with a slight smirk adoring her face.

The rulers's obligations don't seem that bad when there's a certain dark-haired Queen whose arms Haru will be welcomed into in just a few hours, when the evening strikes the town.

It will surely be a prosperous learning experience for both of them.


End file.
